ED "Boss" Davis

I've always been a big supporter of Ed ever since he fell to us at 13. Since day one his shown the potential to be a legit double double guy. His had so many setback in his young career, with this year being his first training camp. I think his proved that his a starting PF in this league. His your old fashion PF though. His not flashy or sexy but he gets it done. He rebounds and protects the rim. With an expanding offensive game. With a league disappearing of legit big man I think Ed is a keeper. That's why it upsets me hearing his name in trade talk. I think it would a big mistake to let him go. Don't get me wrong I don't except him to be a superstars but, I see his ceiling Al Horford. Not a superstar but, a player that can help you win games.

Scouting report
+ Long, slim lefty who can leap. Excellent finisher, shot-blocker and rebounder.
+ Good at short flips near basket but can't create own shot. Turnover-prone.
+ No post game and jumper a question mark. Lack of strength a major problem on D.

Analysis
I think it's fair to call this past season a setback. Davis had a fairly productive rookie year built mostly on an unusually high field goal percentage, but that mark predictably fell back to earth and he didn't offset it with any other improvements.

If anything, he backslid. Davis is long and can jump but badly needs to hit the weights, as he was absolutely thrashed physically by most opposing big men. Despite the abuse, he had an excellent rebound rate, ranking ninth among power forwards, and was 11th at the position in blocks.

This would be fine if he could play the 4 offensively, but he can't. Davis is a 5 in a 4's body, as he can only finish around the rim and can't create anything for himself. Over his two pro seasons, he's made 31.5 percent from beyond 10 feet, which doesn't cut it. He's great at the basket (75 percent last season), and very good on short-range hooks and flips (50.3 percent career from 3 to 9 feet), plus he draws fouls.

Unfortunately, his sky-high turnover ratio (61st out of 70 power forwards) blunts those positives, and he just doesn't get open enough to take advantage of his finishing skills -- Davis averaged only 10.8 points per 40 minutes last season. He is only 23 and still has time to improve, but right now he's a "4.5" who doesn't quite fit at either frontcourt slot.

I've also been a fan of ed davis, ever since I felt it was lucky that he fell to us at 13.

I just think he has a great feel for the game. some of the passes he makes, running the floor last night and finishing, just flashes of brilliance like that makes me want to keep the guy, of course, I would give him up for elite talent if it made us better in the long run. But if that doesn't happen, or better yet we can get away with trading derozan I say keep the guy.

he isn't without faults, plays lazy basketball at times (might be a conditioning issue), still too many mental mistakes, lacks the bulk, something makes terrible offensive decisions. But he has talent and it is shining through.

I don't think Ed will be as good as Horford. He doesn't have the passing ability and range Horford does. He's still a quality player though.

While I agree with most of Hollinger's preseason scouting report, there are a few things I don't understand:

Turnover-prone.

Ed averaged 1.1 and 1.6 TOs per 36 on a turnover rate of 10% and 14% in his first two years respectively. To put that in perspective Amir's was 20% and Andrea's 11% last season. That doesn't read as turnover prone to me.

I think it's fair to call this past season a setback. Davis had a fairly productive rookie year built mostly on an unusually high field goal percentage

If anything, he backslid

Again if we look at Ed's per 36 between his rookie and 2nd year, they are amazingly similar. His FG% did go down, but still remained in a very good range at +51%, his TOs did go up a touch and his pts down a touch. But on a whole its nothing much, especially if we factor in the change of pace (slower) and the change in the teams 'style' (sacrifice offensive rebounds to run back on defense).

The biggest issue I thought last year was Casey actually cut Ed Davis' minutes to the year before. This despite Andrea missing over half the season, and Amir shifting to the C.

This would be fine if he could play the 4 offensively, but he can't. Davis is a 5 in a 4's body

still never understand why people don't believe PFs can't be simple functional players who are efficient. As far as I'm concerned this is the Andrea Bargnani mindset - need to be a highly gifted offensive player to be a PF. But simplicity, efficiency and productivity go a long way to make up, and at times exceed, that 'offensive talent'.

Ed averaged 1.1 and 1.6 TOs per 36 on a turnover rate of 10% and 14% in his first two years respectively. To put that in perspective Amir's was 20% and Andrea's 11% last season. That doesn't read as turnover prone to me.

Well to be fair I think you can't just look at turnover rate without looking at usage. Jose Calderon's TOV% was 18 last year and we all know for damn sure that he is not turnover prone. His usage rate was also 18%.

If you look at Ed's two numbers then you can see where Hollinger is coming from. 15% TOV and just 14% Usage. That's pretty bad. Compare that with this year and you see a massive improvement -- 11% TOV and 18% USG.

Yeah, Al Horford is what I was hoping for from Ed when he was drafted. He's clearlly not quite that type of player though. he has more bounce in his game, and less skill (at this point).

I think Ed's biggest problem is on D. He's a decent team defender and actually has a very high ceiling here, where he seems to have great instincts in terms of spacing, which help him on O too. However, he's so weak individually. He doesn't use quickness well, and he doesn't have the strength yet to be a great post defender. This is what could keep him from being a starter in the long run, assuming he even keeps improving his jumper and FT% a tiny bit for another year or two. He's gotta find a way to at least guard certain kinds of players. Right now he can't guard tweeners like Thad Young, but he also can't guard bigs.

Ed has some skills that can't be taught, like an excellent feel around the rim, rebounding, and quick off the feet. He is even becoming consistent on the jumper. I have no doubt that he will only get better, and learn at a rapid pace. Last year he sucked, and look at the difference now. He's just improving at everything.

Love Ed but he needs to add some serious strength. Carlos Boozer and Lavoy Allen absolutely abused him all game. I'd love to see the raps trade for a guy like Millsap to man the 4 for a couple years while Davis develops. If he could add some bulk but maintain his athleticism he could be a serious piece moving forward.

Love Ed but he needs to add some serious strength. Carlos Boozer and Lavoy Allen absolutely abused him all game. I'd love to see the raps trade for a guy like Millsap to man the 4 for a couple years while Davis develops. If he could add some bulk but maintain his athleticism he could be a serious piece moving forward.

I've been impressed by ED's offensive development but his D leaves quite a bit to be desired right now.

Pau Gasol is an all-star his going to get his but he kept him off the glass though.

Boozer is just too powerful for Ed at this stage.

Thad Young I feel like most of his points came from Holiday penetration with Ed helping and leaving Thad

Henson was playing against the second unit most of the time I think

You make a very good point though.

This is the reason it's so much easier to watch Ed start than Bargs. If you're going to get the opposing PF having solid games against us, at least Ed can keep him off the glass, keep it clean, and limit the other teams 2nd chance points.

I think that's the most disheartening thing about watching the team play with Bargs. See them defend strongly (even Bargs) for 22 seconds, but once the shot is up, Bargs shuts down, and the other team crashes the glass for an easy 2 pts.

Also, Henson did have a fair amount of minutes against Ed as well. Kind of unavoidable with how thin we are up front right now. It's ok though. Also have to remember that Ed came off the bench most of his career, so now he's facing better competition. Most bench bigs don't score too well and don't have lots of moves, so part of his struggles are unavoidable for now.

Ed Davis has pretty decent handles too. Thats 2 games now that i've seen him dribble to the rim for an easy layup, the one against philly was a full court take. He's got some Bosh in his game

They were both on the left hand side. He wouldn't think about it twice doing that on the right. I think it catches defenses by surprise to actually see him bring in up. That they don't think his actually going to go to the rim. It shows how much Ed's confidence has risen doing that in back to back games.

I think ed can be very good. This off season him and Big V need to practice with Hakeem together, those two could be a big time duo for us. Imagine those big to big passes for easy dunks.

Hmm...I don't think working out with Hakeem will do Ed as much good as JV. Ed will never have Hakeem-type moves because of their different styles and body types. I'm not saying it would be useless for Ed..who knows. I think though, given he needs to mostly keep working on his jumper and his body, it wouldn't matter too much. He needs a bruising PF with a jumper to practice against every day. Maybe Boozer. Maybe a better player, see if Karl Malone feels like working him out or something.
JV will benefit much more from Hakeem's teaching. I was amazed at his little fade shot, and that his footwork is so solid at his age. Basically his fade, as well as his running hook, look like moves that he's trying to copy straight out of Olajuwon's game.